Phone scams getting more common, complex in North Jersey

Phone scams getting more common, complex in North Jersey

SEPTEMBER 5, 2014, 11:43 PM    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2014, 11:57 PM
BY ABBOTT KOLOFF AND ANDREW WYRICH
STAFF WRITERS
THE RECORD

Police in North Jersey say at least four people were targets in the past 10 days of a so-called virtual kidnapping scam that federal authorities say has its roots in Mexico and has been a growing problem in Texas even as other scams have been spreading across the nation.

Typical scams

E-ZPASS: Someone sends an email purporting to be from E-ZPass saying you failed to pay a toll and provides a link to an invoice where you are told you can make payment. The Better Business Bureau warns that clicking on the link could unleash a virus on your computer that will steal your personal information. Authorities say that E-ZPass never sends such notifications by email.
IRS: Someone claiming to be from the IRS calls and says you owe unpaid taxes to the government and asks for payment by credit card. The IRS says it always sends notifications about unpaid taxes by mail. If you believe you owe taxes, you may call the IRS at 800-829-1040. If you believe you were the target of a scam, you may call the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 800-366-4484.
JURY DUTY: Someone calls saying he or she is a law enforcement officer and you owe a fine for failing to appear for jury duty or a court appearance. Threatening to have you arrested, the caller asks for immediate payment by credit card or for you to purchase a money card and to provide information that would allow the caller to access it. Anyone with information about such a scam may call the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office at 201-646-2222.
VIRTUAL KIDNAPPING: Someone calls saying he or she has kidnapped a loved one and demands you pay a ransom, often by wiring money to a location in another part of the country. In some cases, the callers say they are members of drug cartels, and someone can be heard screaming for help in the background. The FBI suggests requesting to speak to the victim, asking questions that only the victim would know, and asking to have the victim call back on his or her cellphone.

Wyckoff police said on Thursday that a 49-year-old resident began wiring $900 to people who told him they had kidnapped his brother. Fortunately, he was able to stop the money transfer last week after calling police, who arrived at his home in time to pick up the phone when he was called a second time.

“I was just kidding,” the person on the other end of the phone said after the officer identified himself, before quickly hanging up, Wyckoff Police Chief Ben Fox said.

Police reported that two Westwood residents were targeted in separate incidents over the Labor Day weekend, with another incident reported in Saddle Brook on Aug. 28. The Wyckoff incident occurred on Aug. 30. None of the four Bergen County victims paid the purported kidnappers, authorities said.

Police say virtual kidnappings are an outgrowth of similar scams that crop up for a time, then fade away, such as one targeting senior citizens who were told their grandchildren were in trouble and needed money. The most popular scams over the past few months have involved emails telling people they owe money to E-ZPass and people pretending to be from the Internal Revenue Service asking for payment of overdue federal taxes.

In May, the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office said it uncovered an organized ring operating from a Georgia prison that swindled money from people across the country. Callers pretended to be law enforcement officers asking for payment of fines for missing jury duty or court appearances. Sheriff’s detectives arrested two people in Georgia, a corrections officer and an inmate, and said the ring involved perhaps hundreds of other inmates.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/phone-scams-getting-more-common-complex-in-north-jersey-1.1082157#sthash.rLisSW7j.dpuf

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